Extracted from CUHK in Focus, dated 15 June 2026
Long before artificial intelligence (AI) became a household concept, Professor Benjamin Wah Wan-sang was already captivated by the idea that machines could think. That sense of wonder eventually led him – then a young researcher in the United States – into computer science, then into AI, and later back to Hong Kong, where he would help shape CUHK and the wider research ecosystem in his hometown with the same curiosity that first set him on his path.
Globally renowned for his pioneering contributions spanning areas most critical to computer science research, such as AI and multimedia, Professor Wah is widely recognised not only for his academic excellence but also for the indelible mark he has left on Hong Kong’s higher education and research landscape. He is among the very few scholars worldwide to have been elected Fellow of all three principal computing and scientific academies – the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Over the years, Professor Wah has been connected to CUHK in various capacities – as a teacher, as the University’s first-ever Provost, and most recently, as an Honorary Fellow. “I received this honour with heartfelt gratitude,” he says, “not simply as an acknowledgement of my past service, but also a reflection of the enduring bond I feel with the University, its people, its mission, and its aspirations.”
